A3 2.0T fsi sportback build thread

[TitchRR]

Thought id make a build thread to keep a log of what I've done

Bought the car few months ago totally standard apart from the window tints so i had a nice blank canvas.

78k on clock
Dsg/ s-tronic
Full service
Red leathers

Would like to keep this car for a while as i have a bad habbit of selling cars too quick so this will be a ongoing project till im 100% satisfied with it.

My plans were always to buy a black sportback and make a s3 replica whilst also doing a K04 conversion, both are still on the cards although im indecisive between going stage 2+ or stage 3 k04 as its fwd but will see in time.

Anyways first thing i done was got a set of temp wheels while i decided what wheels i really wanted and my friend sold me some rotiform blqs

19x8.5 et45 all round, they needed a refurb but as i dont plan to keep forever i just went over them with a bit of spray n flung em on

Next step was lowering, on my last car i had JOM coilovers which were alright but i fancied something with a bit more comfort so went with APs

Next thing i done was s-line front bumper + rs3 grill and a very slight headlight tint which transformed the front end im my eyes, made it look much more mean

Ideally i want to do 2009+ s3 conversion but for the price i got for the s-line bumper it will hold me untill i source all parts needed, so next was rear end, managed to source some face lift rear lights

Made the rear end a little prettier but still quite ugly lol so found a genuine s3 rear bumper and s-line spoiler which will be going in for spray sometime this week

Last update was 3" decat downpipe fitted few days ago, nice deep noise on boost and louder dsg farts, feels like the car is boosting harder aswell, short sound vid on youtube








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[LanceG]

definitely for the bookmarks

 

[Adamski_A3]

Mean and moody, like it

 

[TomL83]

Looking good mate

 

[Tylerrr.]

How did you tint you head lights may I ask?

 

[TitchRR]

Thanks guys, re the headlghts i paid my window tint guy £30 lol, im rubbish at tints/wrap


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[TitchRR]

Update

Had a little problem with some builders who were doing work by my car and got cement splashes over it, thinking id need the front end resprayed i thought id do some research first and came across the vinegar method which worked a treat

On a brighter note got my rear s3 bumper and spoiler sprayed and fitted

Debadged

Still needs a tow eye cover but very happy with the results.

Also opinions on ride height, do i slam the front like the rear, or raise the rear like the front?

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[Sharkiee]

Looking good mate, still thinking of the conversion?


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[TitchRR]

Looking good mate, still thinking of the conversion?


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Thanks, yeah definitely, holding out for a black front end at a good price, missed a couple cause of distance but hopefully 1 comes up again soon


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[Sharkiee]

Thanks, yeah definitely, holding out for a black front end at a good price, missed a couple cause of distance but hopefully 1 comes up again soon


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I'm sure it will, you got anything else planned other than that? If I may how much was it to re spray your bumper?


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[TitchRR]

I'm sure it will, you got anything else planned other than that? If I may how much was it to re spray your bumper?


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Yeah new wheels, possibly side skirts then onto the power mods, paid £250 for bumper and spoiler spraying and fitting


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[samuelh_888]

Looks good. Keep ride height as it is, it's sitting level. Strangely, I do like those alloys.

 

[Sharkiee]

Yeah new wheels, possibly side skirts then onto the power mods, paid £250 for bumper and spoiler spraying and fitting


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That's quite reasonable, thanks for replying!


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[TitchRR]

Looks good. Keep ride height as it is, it's sitting level. Strangely, I do like those alloys.

Thanks, the wheels quite suit the car but are a pain to clean and i prefer wheels with a bit of concave, might just keep these for winters if anything but already know what rims are next tbh.


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[TitchRR]

Little update as i haven’t posted in here for a while, managed to source some new wheels

Audi TT mk2 wheels 18x9 all round, really love the stance of it atm, not in too bad shape so will most likely leave the refurb till after winter, also ive gathered my front facelift parts and may have a crack at it this weekend weather depending and if i can get couple friends to give me a hand, last little thing is i got my hands on an uprated HPFP

Vis Motorsport, keep hearing good things about these so thought id give it a go, im a bit indecisive if i want to do k04 or just settle for stage 2+, my friend with a mk5 gti is doing k04 conversion right now so will see how much hassle it is and if its all worth it after its done



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[Chef Bohemond]

Hey I'm brand new to working on cars and came across your thread, I have the same car and am hoping to do a lot to it myself. Along with making my own build thread once I get started I will probably be following yours. If I can ask really quick, why exactly did you lower It? Is this just for looks or is it related to performance in some way? I'm probably gonna raise mine a bit because where I live I'm constantly scraping the ground but I would hate for that to negatively affect the performance of my car.

 

[Chef Bohemond]

Found the answer on Google sorry. But this sucks, I already feel like my a3 has issues staying on the ground but if I don't lift it I'll keep scraping. I actually ripped my oil pan open the other week.
Any other ways I can get around this dilemma? Or should I maybe start my own thread? (Such a newbie, to cars and forums, my bad)

 

[TitchRR]

Found the answer on Google sorry. But this sucks, I already feel like my a3 has issues staying on the ground but if I don't lift it I'll keep scraping. I actually ripped my oil pan open the other week.
Any other ways I can get around this dilemma? Or should I maybe start my own thread? (Such a newbie, to cars and forums, my bad)

Is your car standard height? Is it an s-line? Shouldnt really be scraping at stock height so i assume you have coilovers already.. if so raising them shouldn’t really effect handling that much as i believe even on the highest settings they should still perform well (if a decent brand used anyway)


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[Chef Bohemond]

Is your car standard height? Is it an s-line? Shouldnt really be scraping at stock height so i assume you have coilovers already.. if so raising them shouldn’t really effect handling that much as i believe even on the highest settings they should still perform well (if a decent brand used anyway)


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Yeah totally standard no coilovers or anything, s line.

 

[TitchRR]

Yeah totally standard no coilovers or anything, s line.

Maybe your shocks/springs are broken and need replacing


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[Russell Miah]

Hey I have a 2006 Audi A3 2.0tfsi and have the lights youu had before you started the upgrades and now I want the lights you have on now, can anyone help me find those lights for my car and also would it just be plug and plug it would I have to buy harness etc

 

[TitchRR]

Hey I have a 2006 Audi A3 2.0tfsi and have the lights youu had before you started the upgrades and now I want the lights you have on now, can anyone help me find those lights for my car and also would it just be plug and plug it would I have to buy harness etc

I assume you mean the rear lights, got mine on ebay for 140, can get them ebay, breakers, gumtree even maybe in here.. they aren’t hard to find.. can buy harness on ebay for around 35 or use a goid video on youtube to wire it using cars original harness then vcds coding to get them working properly


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[TitchRR]

Small update, so i had my heart set on doing the facelift, cleared a day and got couple friends to give me a hand, got the bumper, front panel and n/s wing off when they turned up and offered to get started on the other wing while i finished off my side

This is how the car looked at this point, then my friend called me over.. he managed to round off most of the bolts holding on the wing

At this point everything i was trying to get them off wasn’t working and the day was getting dark fast so i ended up putting the car back to normal and now I’ve totally lost interest if even bothering to do it again so will sell the front end on and just get a nice splitter and custom headlights to finish off the front end then go on to performance mods.

Bought a spare light and got cracking straight away, not sure how ill be configuring the led strips or if ill even definitely use them yet but spec is so far led projector xenon, dipped beam with shutter, red demon eyes and sequential indicators,

Also after the facelift cockup i spotted a neuspeed induction kit and bought it to cheer myself up

Excuse the dirty engine bay




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[Sharkiee]

Any tips for getting the front bumper off?


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[TitchRR]

Any tips for getting the front bumper off?


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Easiest with wheels off but can be done with them on, use a torch to see the bolts behind the wheel fender as first time i ever done it i was trying to unscrew the wrong thing


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[Russell Miah]

I assume you mean the rear lights, got mine on ebay for 140, can get them ebay, breakers, gumtree even maybe in here.. they aren’t hard to find.. can buy harness on ebay for around 35 or use a goid video on youtube to wire it using cars original harness then vcds coding to get them working properly


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What would I search on eBay because I don’t want to buy the wrong one

 

[maxpayne]

I assume you mean the rear lights, got mine on ebay for 140, can get them ebay, breakers, gumtree even maybe in here.. they aren’t hard to find.. can buy harness on ebay for around 35 or use a goid video on youtube to wire it using cars original harness then vcds coding to get them working properly


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You can get them brand new for around £186 from car parts 4 less.

 

[maxpayne]

What would I search on eBay because I don’t want to buy the wrong one

See http://www.lightnings.dk/ledbaglygter_en.html for parts number

 

[Russell Miah]

Can anyone send me a link for both rear lights, I hate looking for things thanks

 

[samuelh_888]

Can anyone send me a link for both rear lights, I hate looking for things thanks

Sorry, I’m not going to search for you - I already have these lights fitted.

To help you out you’re looking for A3 Sportback facelift rear lights so > 2009.

As mentioned above, take a look in Car Parts 4 Less or even Euro Car Parts.

 

[samuelh_888]

@TitchRR - give the front end facelift another go, you’ll be happy with the result. If not please don’t put those lights in ( I know each to their own!)

Have you fitted the fuel pump or are you waiting for the map?

 

[Rideen]

I like the car but hate the lights. They look like a Chinese ripoff now to me.

But as I said, I like other bits.

 

[TitchRR]

@TitchRR - give the front end facelift another go, you’ll be happy with the result. If not please don’t put those lights in ( I know each to their own!)

Have you fitted the fuel pump or are you waiting for the map?

The more i look at them the more i agree, wanted to go the xenon route but thats money i can use for performance mods so may just get a splitter for now, if the front end bits dont sell then i may attempt next year after I’ve got performance and handling where i want it to be.

Not put on fuel pump yet as I’d like to put it on in a few hundred miles when im going to give the car a full service changing the cam follower


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[TitchRR]

I like the car but hate the lights. They look like a Chinese ripoff now to me.

But as I said, I like other bits.

Its those led strips isn’t it , you think they’ll still look naff with just the projectors in aswell? (Spraying the reflector behind it black to blend it in)


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[Rideen]

Its those led strips isn’t it , you think they’ll still look naff with just the projectors in aswell? (Spraying the reflector behind it black to blend it in)


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To be honest I'd just go with xenon prjector setup (without devil eyes and LEDs) and you can paint the inside of headlight black if you're going for mean look.

 

[TitchRR]

To be honest I'd just go with xenon prjector setup (without devil eyes and LEDs) and you can paint the inside of headlight black if you're going for mean look.

Yeah good shout, led strips would mean more work/wiring/headache although ill leave the devil eyes for a bit of a party piece as they’ll be on a switch anyway


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[Rideen]

Yeah good shout, led strips would mean more work/wiring/headache although ill leave the devil eyes for a bit of a party piece as they’ll be on a switch anyway


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As long as they are not permanently on and you do not put a glowing Audi badge, I fully support you!

 

[TitchRR]

As long as they are not permanently on and you do not put a glowing Audi badge, I fully support you!

Oh no none of that on my car mate


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